Butterflies

 

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6)

In a word, a Being who, from his infinite wisdom, cannot err or be deceived; from his infinite goodness, can do nothing but what is eternally just, right, and kind.

 The job I had before I took care of Dad was in the same store where my mother had worked for years. There were people who remembered her. They always told me how nice my mother was, and my response was, “Yes, she was very nice. I’m not like her.” I introduced myself to new employees as “The Wicked Witch of the West.” For a while, they believed me. It was great. One day, I did something that evoked a “That was gentleness” response. I don’t remember what it was, but I remember being dismayed. I remember that I even prayed about it- “Not gentleness, Lord, please, not gentleness.”

My understanding of gentleness has changed in the intervening years, but I have to laugh when people at my current job think I’m kind or nice. I don’t think I’ve changed. I think it’s that the atmosphere at the two businesses is different, but I could be wrong about myself.

God often works in us to develop the things we need most and want least and that brings us back to the question of whether or not we are going to choose to trust God. When God says “Gentleness” or “Patience” do we struggle with God, or with ourselves? Do we trust that it is a good thing that He has begun in us and that He is going to complete it? Or do we cringe and doubt? For me, there’s a pattern. Those things that are from God usually get a “No… no … no…no…no…no…no” reaction followed by a slow submission and an eventual acceptance or appreciation.

And, within the past half hour, I’ve been given an obvious parallel. The little “worm” I have been caring for has emerged as a butterfly. When they form a chrysalis, they turn themselves into goo that eventually organizes into butterfly. Somehow, I doubt I would be too interested in undergoing such a process. When the butterfly e-closes (leaves the chrysalis) it has to struggle to escape what has been for as much as 20 % of its life, its home. To help it escape is to kill it. It’s hard to remember that we’re the caterpillar and that becoming a butterfly is our fate but it’s not necessarily pleasant to make the transition. We absolutely must grow wings and learn to fly.